According to the World Health Organization, about 80 percent of all illnesses in the developing world are caused by the lack of potable water and adequate sanitation; lack of safe water is also identified among the chief causes of sickness and death in children.

Perspective is in low supply here in the States. I don’t mean this in a derogatory way. It’s just a fact. We live sheltered. We don’t live without heartache. We don’t live without pain. We just live with limited perspective.

When we, adopted members of the family of God, sponsor, visit, love, write, protect, speak up for, adopt, and foster sponsored children in our own families we are living out the gospel. We are doing the will of our Father in heaven, and Jesus calls us brothers and sisters.

Currently, more slaves exist than during the time of slave trade abolitionist William Wilberforce. But unlike in Wilberforce’s day, 80 percent of today’s slaves are women and girls; 50 percent are children. The slave trade is far from history. In fact, it is very much the shame of our world today.

We often get questions in our contact center regarding different holidays. Things like, “What are some holidays that are special to my child?” Or, “To be sensitive to my child’s culture and customs, are there things I shouldn’t talk about?”